This application claims priority to Japanese Patent Application No. JP2001-239352, filed on Aug. 7, 2001, which is incorporated herein in its entirety.
This disclosure relates to polyphenylene ether group resin composite containing recovered polystyrene group resin.
The polyphenylene ether (PPE) group resin composite is widely known as the resin having excellent anti-thermal characteristic, mechanical properties as well as electrical properties. It is being widely used as denatured polyphenylene ether group resin composite having its processability reformed by compounding it with polystyrene, rubber modified polystyrene (high impact polystyrene), etc. Such PPE group resin composites are being widely used in the fields of automobile parts, electric parts, office devices, etc., due to their excellent properties mentioned above.
As regards the polystyrene resin that is compounded with the polyphenylene ether group resin, virgin resin material was used. In the case of polystyrene group resin used in plastic parts, foaming styrol, etc., when a certain durability period is exceeded in the market, it is usually discarded, and replaced it with a new product. The end products of molding that get generated at the time of carrying out molding, or the inferior molded product that can be recycled, etc., are treated as the so-called recycled products in the factory. However, the number of products receiving such a treatment is insignificant if seen from the point of the total number of such products. If the polystyrene group resin is recovered from the market after it has completed its useful life, there would be an effective use of resources.
The authors carried out an earnest research on the use of such polystyrene group resin recovered from the market. They showed that if the recovered polystyrene group resin was used instead of virgin polystyrene group resin in the polyphenylene ether group resin composite and moreover, if flame retardation reagent was used jointly with it, then a composite having properties similar to that of polyphenylene ether group resin composite of the past can be obtained.
This disclosure is directed to polyphenylene ether group resin composites in which recovered polystyrene group resin, which has been discarded in the past, is effectively used, and articles made from embodiments of the polyphenylene ether group resin composite.
In one embodiment, a polyphenylene ether group resin composite can comprise: polyphenylene ether group resin, flame retardation reagent, and recovered polystyrene group resin. The recovered polystyrene group resin can be recovered using limonene or thermal shrinkage recovery, and can comprises polystyrene that has been recovered from a product or a part of a product that has been used by an end customer for a period of time.
One embodiment of a method for making an article comprises: dissolving a polystyrene group resin product that has been used as a product by an end customer for a period of time in a terpene group material, recovering polystyrene group resin from the polystyrene group resin product, melt blending the recovered polystyrene with polyphenylene ether group resin, flame retardation reagent, and additive, wherein the parts by weight are based upon a total of 100 parts by weight of polyphenylene ether group resin, recovered polystyrene group resin and any virgin polystyrene group resin, extruding the blend, and molding the extruded blend to form an article.
Another embodiment of a method for making an article comprises: employing thermal fusion to reduce a volume of a polystyrene group resin in a polystyrene group resin product that has been used as a product by an end customer for a period of time, recovering the polystyrene group resin from the polystyrene group resin product, melt blending the recovered polystyrene with polyphenylene ether group resin, and flame retardation reagent, extruding the blend, and molding the extruded blend to form an article.
The above described and other features are exemplified by the following detailed description.